Beneath our feet lies a story. It is a tale of canoes carried over land. Welcome to Portage Bay. This bay got its name in 1913. Portage refers to transporting water vehicles over land. This allowed access to another body of water.
Commercial mariners once had to take their cargo onto land. They did this before continuing into Lake Washington. Imagine the effort required.
In 1860, Harvey Pike tried to cut a ditch. This ditch would connect Lake Washington’s Union Bay and Lake Union’s Portage Bay. He gave up. Pike then deeded his land to the Lake Washington Ship Canal Company. This company built a transiting rail line. It was for portaging goods between the lakes. This rail line was used until 1878.
David Denny and Thomas Burke had a canal built in 1883. This canal was for floating logs. The Washington Ship Canal was built in 1916. It finally connected the two bodies of water. Yet, the bay kept its original name. It remained Portage Bay.
You may hear this area called Portage Bay-Roanoke Park. In 2009, the neighborhood became a historic district. The National Register of Historic Places recognized it. The Roanoke Park Historic District has specific boundaries. It is roughly bounded by E Shelby Street. It is also bounded by E Roanoke Street, Harvard Avenue E, and 10th Avenue E.
This district features early twentieth-century architectural styles. These include Colonial Revival and Neo-classical Revival. Tudor Revival and Mission/Spanish Revival are present too. You will also see English Arts and Crafts and Craftsman styles. American Foursquare, French Norman Revival, and Italian Renaissance are also here. Some houses combine these styles.
Roanoke Park developed as a streetcar suburb. It shows Seattle’s early residential architecture. The neighborhood grew quickly in the early 1920s. This growth continued into the 20th century. Today, the area has a mix of houses and apartments. It also houses one of Seattle’s largest houseboat communities.
The park and neighborhood honor the Roanoke Colony. This was England’s first settlement in what became the United States. Seattle acquired the land in 1908. It served as a picnic spot for hikers and bicyclists. They used the trail through Interlaken Park.
Portage Bay is home to two yacht clubs. These are the Seattle and Queen City yacht clubs. Many houseboats dot the water. You will also find the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. The University of Washington’s College of Ocean and Fishery Science is here too.
Until 1916, Lake Union and Lake Washington were separated by land. This necessitated portage trails. Watercraft needed to be carried from one lake to the other. One trail was on the 1856 Cadastral Survey. It crossed the narrowest land. This separated Union Bay from Portage Bay. It followed the path of the future SR 520.
The first people here were the hah-choo-AHBSH. They were known as “people of the lake.” They were a band of Lakes Duwamish. The marshlands on Portage Bay’s southern shore served as hunting grounds. They hunted waterfowl here. This marsh was called spaLxad.
Across from the Portage Bay-Roanoke Park neighborhood was baqWab. This was a prairie. It was maintained for cultivating roots. They also gathered other foods. These foods were important to the diets of the area’s indigenous people. Portage Bay’s history runs deep. It connects us to Seattle’s past.